Gabonese opposition candidates want presidential vote delayed

Gabonese opposition candidates want presidential vote delayed

Opposition candidates in Gabon’s presidential ballot have banded together to push for a postponement of the vote due to problems with electoral lists, officials said Wednesday.

The Opposition Speaks out

Jules Aristide Bourdes Ougouliguende and 10 other candidates plan to ask the Gabonese courts to postpone the vote, Bourdes’ comments followed a meeting between the candidates along with officials from the government and the presidency.
These 11 candidates are considered the heavyweight opposition candidates in the election which follows the death of Omar Bongo Ondimba, who ruled the country for 41 years.

A total of 23 candidates are in the race, including Bongo’s son, Defence Minister Ali Ben Bongo.Prime Minister Paul Biyoghe Mba of the ruling PDG party participated in Wednesday’s talks, but ruled out postponing the vote.

The candidates other than PDG candidates have made certain requests,” he said. “Problems with the reliability of lists, delays …

says Prime minister Paul

He continued to claim that some 120,000 duplicate names have so far been discovered on the electoral lists in the country of 1.5 million people, but that the problems were being addressed.